Difficult; Pantah's have not increased in value like other Ducatis, but that said being almost NOS may put its value way up. In the UK restored Pantah's are advertised in the £5-6000 range, but whether they sell for this is unknown. the USA and Australia are the best markets for Ducati prices.

 

Bikes - and not just their engines - that haven't been used over the last 40+ years should be treated with caution (unless you want to put them in a static collection). If the mileage is real, you're going to be inspecting and replacing just about everything - starting with wheel bearings and moving on through all the running gear, the brakes, the suspension etc.

As to the engine ... well, you've got bearings, bushes, pistons, valves, clutch etc that risk being completely dry and at worst, corroded and stuck.

So don't underestimate the potential cost/time/ harassment of getting it on the road in a safe condition.

 

How and where was the bike stored is going to help place a value on it. If it was in a consistent climate and the fluids were changed it should be good. If it went through cycles of hot and cold weather without changing the fluids, then it's likely a mechanical mess.

 

A Pantah 500 in the US has no real collectable value. and Ventodue and woodsman are both spot on. The bike sitting for that long could be a nightmare if you plan on using it. I pulled open a completely rebuilt bevel engine with brand new bearings seals etc inside that had sat for 25 years and the main bearings were rusted solid and the seals and o-rings crumbled to dust.

Australia seems to have a better appreciation for Pantahs but in the US I wouldn't put that bike over about $5-6k. Which is even less than the UK value. You might find enthusiasts who value them more than I do and markets constantly change so who really knows, but I wouldn't invest too much on that one.

 

Not sure I can help with the value much as I do not pay attention to these things.

Why would you buy it?

1. To ride a piece of Ducati history? Time traveling can be fun and getting the opportunity to ride a brand new 40 year old bike has its charms.

It also has its risks as there are things that do go bad due to age, chemicals and rubber mostly. Metals should be fine as long as it was stored somewhat properly, look for signs that it was or expect costs to rise ... a lot.

2. Collecting? If I purchased the bike I would give it the once over with fresh fluids but would likely not even start it. If you make it run you are then in the position of wanting to ride it which will add miles and potentially cause greater costs due to more work needed. I do not know as there is a benefit to starting a 40 year old bike only to shut it off for another 40 years of no use. I would maintain the condition and miles and sell it off to the next owner when you get bored with it in your collection.

On the 500sl know that the cases were weak at the layshaft so running a original you run the risk of needing new cases and I do not think the warranty will cover un-obtanium cases. I own a set of broken cases and a rat 500sl on my to do list. In the shop I also have a 500sl/600sl where the original owner bought the bike in Italy and while touring the country the motor popped soon after. the factory warrantied a 600 motor for him.

I also had a 500sl in the shop last year with about 1000 miles that the customer had me get running again. There was a head issue due to mice and then it needed jetting as he deleted the air boxes.

I wanted a 500 just because it was the first pantah and as this is my generation of bikes (pantah era) I just wanted one. As with most vintage bikes expect to spend money on something you do not ride much and is fragile by today's standards. If you are okay with all that then why not?

 

2. Collecting? If I purchased the bike I would give it the once over with fresh fluids but would likely not even start it. If you make it run you are then in the position of wanting to ride it which will add miles and potentially cause greater costs due to more work needed. I do not know as there is a benefit to starting a 40 year old bike only to shut it off for another 40 years of no use. I would maintain the condition and miles and sell it off to the next owner when you get bored with it in your collection.

I think bikes are made to ride. But with 40 years gone and only 8 miles it is a good collector bike, even if not popular. Which is to say Ducvet has a good point imho. Plus do you want to risk dropping it or worse?

 

Thank you soo much for your quick response
I guess I have to think about it
I thought more to buy and resell it.
It is a real unique looking Bike
I'll keep you posted
Again Thank You

 

I have no idea how many would love the bike to be honest, seeing one in new condition is tempting for a very few people. Kind of rounding out a collection with that weird old bike no one wanted when they were new, granted there are a few of us who like weird.

 

<snip> ... weird old bike no one wanted when they were new.

You know, I was really excited when the Pantah was announced. Here was something really new, something that could be a rival to all the Japanese stuff. And then I went on a test ride.

First impression: small, but seriously small even for a 500. I'm a couple of inches under 6 foot and even now struggle to make 170 pound, but this thing was SMALL. But hey ...

Took it off down the local dual lane highway, opened it up ... and up went the engine revs, but the speedo didn't do likewise . I note Ian Falloon has written recently that the gearing was too high; who knows? But I was seriously disappointed. It was barely better than my brother's Guzzi V50 which couldn't pull the skin of a rice pudding either.

 

Lol for fun see if you can connect the dyno dots of the wayback machine. Bikes range from 1971 to 1984 sized from 450-750cc

Orange =
Green =
Light blue =
red =
Dark Blue =

 

Okay I just realized I sold one short so here its better run vs a ringer from a more modern bike (2015)

 

I bought one of the first 500 Pantahs in Britain, as it was my dream bike, a 90 deg vee-twin version of the 250 Ducati. It was light, handled great and was blistering fast, revving like a two-stroke. I had great fun on it for six months, thrashing it everywhere and giant-killing bikes twice the size (I was young) but there was one drawback: I couldn't stand the snatchy transmission. Every time the throttle was opened and closed, or feathered, it would clonk back and forth, and to avoid this the engine had to be kept revving and it had to be ridden fast. Compared to my fantastic 750 Sport it was a PITA, so it had to go. Every belt camshaft Ducati that I have owned has been like this, which is why they have all never lasted long in my ownership.

Many will disagree with this, but I blame Franco Farne, who while testing the Pantah found that due to the 90 deg crankshaft, the flywheels could be made much lighter, to help the engine rev. I think that a vee-twin, due to the uneven firing intervals, needs heavy flywheels to stop transmission snatch, otherwise the revs need to be kept up, which to my mind defeats the purpose of a vee-twin, which is a torquey, thunderous engine. To each his own!

 

Nice one, Colin. Strange you found yours was quick, as my short test ride down the A3 (recounted above) was anything but! Where did you get yours from? Mine was at Moto Vecchia in Colliers Wood.

 

Hi Craig,

Yes, mine was really fast, once in the power band and Pantah's did very well in production racing for a time, until the Japanese moved the game on. I bought it from John Blanchard's in South London. The replies on here (and from riders who I have spoken to) show how different our tastes are. I was brought up on old British bikes that pulled from low revs, which is why I have always loved bevel Ducatis. Someone who has not experienced an old style engine, with heavy flywheels, would have no idea what it is to change up at 3000 RPM and feel the engine really PULL as you open the throttle again, and maybe would not like it. Probably Harleys are great stump-pullers? Certainly old air-head BMW's. I have always detested a bike which requires me to keep the revs up.

Colin

 

I bought my Pantah in '81 and loved the bike from the first ride. It wasn't as quick a the Japanese in the category but it was a far more comfortable bike to ride. On the roughest of tarmac, at the wreckless speeds of youth, it was stable as a rock. Frost heaves mid bend, that sent my buddies Katana into a headshake, weren't a concern. It also hauled me and my 100 lb girfriend thousands of miles, never lacked highway power and never missed a beat.

For some it probably could have used more power, maybe the tranny does feel snatchy to others. Too me, this was a great motorcycle for riding. I'd be excited everytime I would pull my helmet on.

 

Woodsman
Since you have first hand experience from the day, what bikes did you consider the pantah's competition on power?

Quick always is subjective mind you , I still hear all kinds of stories from back in the day when a certain bike was powerful. I have a laverda 500 and the pantah 500 in my dyno that should be direct competition for each other and they are pretty close. What other bikes do you think would be similar from the time?

 

Woodsman
Since you have first hand experience from the day, what bikes did you consider the pantah's competition on power?

Quick always is subjective mind you , I still hear all kinds of stories from back in the day when a certain bike was powerful. I have a laverda 500 and the pantah 500 in my dyno that should be direct competition for each other and they are pretty close. What other bikes do you think would be similar from the time?

We didn't have anything but Japanese brands locally, the Duc dealer was 3 hours away, so I didn't have much exposure to anything exotic. I didn't see a Laverda until I was mid 20's, not many in Canada. I fell in love with Ducatis when I was 18 and an older friend arrived on a brand new , black and gold, '78 900ss. I'd never heard of them before. Luckily I had an older sister he was hot on because I was gone for an hour and a half test riding. Started saving my money and bought the Pantah 3 years later, never looked at anything else.

The only middleweight, from that time, I have any amout of saddle time with was a GS550M. I'm sure it must has produced more power but they are such a different animal to the Pantah. Hard braking was less stable, it would turn in much faster than the Duc but was twitchy when coming out of the corner. And at the top end they were uncomfortable, just never felt planted, even a tendency to do a bit of tank slappin' if conditions were right. The Pantah wouldn't keep up through tight, slow twisties but anything mid speed or the long sweepers it would chew up the Katana. And you could ride it flat out, which was faster than the Katana's max V and it was solid as a rock.

 

In 1985 I bought a 500 Pantah In Winnipeg. The bike I had prior to it was a 1982 550 Yamaha Seca which had about 5 more hp at the top end but weighed a bit more. At that time I was young and had a need for speed. I remember both bikes being fast enough for me. I also remember loving the handling of my Pantah, the increase in lower end torque vs the Yamaha 4, better for rolling the throttle and catching a little air coming off rises like where railway lines crossed the road. I liked that bike enough that when I got back into biking again post kids I bought another Ducati, a Monster 1100, even though I wasn’t sure my neck issues would hold up to it, and it didn’t.

 

Yes I would expect a 4-cylinder bike to make a bit more power as that has almost always been the way. I do not have a good comparison bike in the dyno the closest I get is a KZ650 with 750 top end and as you can guess that is out of the 500 pantahs league. I enjoy running some of these older bikes as it adds a touch of reality to the stories people tell of "killer power" back in the day where most of the time the "killer" part was more due to a poor tune and a sketchy chassis / brakes.

Anyway I find I prefer sketchy low powered bikes because you get your kicks at much lower speeds and have a ball trying to stay alive. I believe I have a Seca 400 due to come in as well as a FJ1100 so I hope to fill some more holes. I had to search up the gs550 katana I would love to run one some day that was a good looking bike. the only dyno run I could find was a earlier model gs550 (1977) and it only made 42 rwhp on the dyno (webco dyno) . Most specs back then were crankshaft numbers which are about 10% higher than rear wheel so if suzuki claimed 50hp I would expect to see 45 which puts you only a few higher than the pantah. stock to stock and not accounting for anything other than peak numbers.

Thanks for the info now back to the OP. I wonder if the Pantah will start to increase in value as people start to realize it exists. to be honest as it was before my riding era I had never heard of one until the late 90's. I hear about them more today but you know... internet. If I was after a early Pantah to RIDE much I would skip both the 500 and 600 and head straight to the 650 allazzura while you can. very reliable bike with many pantah issues fixed and they worked pretty well. Problem with them is they have been consumed for their engines to build TT2 replicas and for replacement vertical heads on others.

 

I’m sure my brother regrets selling the very rare 650 Pantah he used to own

 

And the best realisation, I hear say ...

 

I've had problems with 30-40 year old bikes lately. Mechanics don't seem to want to work on the older bikes there days, so if you can't do all the work yourself, you might have trouble finding a competent wrench. Also, parts are scarce to non-existent. Low miles sounds impressive, but I've had parts on old bikes literally fall apart in my hands and there were no replacements available. Just be eyes open about what you might be getting into. Best of luck!

 

Hi all, Came across this community as i was searching out Pantah information. Recently brought from my friends estate a late 1981Pantah SL500 (hence searching the internet). Brought this bike, as they came out when I was looking to get my first big bike wanted one and could not afford it, got a second hand Yamaha XS750 instead. My fiend had this bike from not quite new, as Frasers in Sydney wanted to race it in 500 production races in 1982. Peter had ordered it, when he went to pick it up Frasers offered a 750 to him on loan while they race the Pantah. When the finished racing they swapped back the bikes (he had only paid a deposit and then was not made to pay anymore). It was special ordered Black, red/blue stripes, and lots of people (Ian Fallon for one) says thats not possible, but have talked to a guys who worked at Frasers in the 80's would told me that they came in lots of colours, when Ducati says 81's are all silver/blue. Apparently a lot of Black ones came with gold or silver stripes as Daramah clones.
Mine has been in a shed for about 5 years but had be serviced prior to that. The racing legacy is shown on it by, 750F1 type clipons, velocity stacks, 13/36 sprockets, Black Marzocchi rear shocks, hard as a rock Paioli front forks and 650TL tail light/blinker assy.
Peter told me when he picked it up, it went like a scalded cat.
Sorry, about the long story. My intention is to clean it up, get it running and ride it. I'm not fully restoring it and happy to use non-OEM parts, which there are a few suppliers in Aus. Currently here fully resto'd ones go for $25k AUD, project jobs from 5 to 10K. I got mine for 1k, so I'm ahead.
My other bike is a 2013 CB500FSA and it amazing how close the specs are to the Pantah.
Anyway thanks for listening.

 

Interesting, looks good. Make sure that you change the cam belts before using it, as they are a weak point and deteriorate with age.

 

Very nice and interesting paint scheme . If it was raced keep an eye on the engine cases near the timing layshaft as that was where the 500;s cracked. A stock motor might last a long time but the one in my shop now was a street 500 and Ducati "upgraded the owner to a 600" when his 500 motor failed. I do have a retired set of 500 race cases and you can see where they welded up the cracks in the aluminum as a attempt to get through a race or something.

 

It is funny, but Ducati were plagued with the crankcases breaking between the cylinders in racing, and they spent years reinforcing their World Superbike racer's cases without success, until finally solved by using a special aluminium alloy from Bacofoil in Canada. I read recently that the Suzuki TL1000 had an achilles heel when being raced - broken crankcases!

 

Racing will do that to you.

I broke 2 sets of 750 cases (1997 m750) at the same spot with stock motors run hard on the track. I also have seen cases break on
851 with built motors
916 with built motors
750 early with built motors.
750ie with built motors
1000ds with built motors

These were mostly race use and very built motors other than the mentioned 1997 m750 us models where it was a bone stock engine just run hard. If you look inside the cases over time you can see where the factory was changing the cases around the timing layshaft to reinforce the area. many of the built motors on larger engines split horizontally from main bearing to other bearings. Not sure I have seen any street bike in stock trim do it. Early motors cracked usually near the timing layshaft on the belt side right into a oil passageway though the "repaired" 500 cases I have were welded on both case halves at the timing layshaft.

 

Thanks guys, I'll check. He did ride it for quite a few years after getting it back from the dealer. And he got it running about 6 years ago (the timing belts have no wear on them, they will get change ($90 here in Aus) before putting it back in the shed. A couple of things before cranking it, brakes, wiring including ignition, speedo drive, tyres, and the major thing carbys.

One strange thing is, there is a mechanic near me, who was a Ducati master and worked on the Italy Ducati race teams, when i asked about turning it over he said "change the belts, check for rust in the cylinder and if none crank it"
Any opinions?

 

Sounds good to me, although I would change the oil first.

 

Guys, have a question. In the attached photo there is 2 numbers, one i know is the frame number, can any on tell me what the other is.
It seems to be possibly build date and some other data. I have emailed Ducati Italy but they can take a while to get back to you.
thanks

 

Guys, have a question. In the attached photo there is 2 numbers, one i know is the frame number, can any on tell me what the other is. <snip>

Sorry for the delay in replying ...

The bottom series is the Italian homologation - 'type approval' - code.

"DGM" is the issuing authority: 'Direzione Generale per la Motorizzazione'.

(20363 was replaced by 20705 on 14 August 1981. So there's a bit of dating information there ...)